Albion’s fine run in the FA Youth Cup came to an end this afternoon as they were beaten 3-1 by Wolves at Molineux.
The journey to the quarter-finals equaled Albion’s best run in the competition, but it will come as little consolation after their exit.
Wins over Plymouth Argyle, Manchester City and Charlton Athletic had seen Albion only concede once, but it was ultimately defensive errors that cost James Baxter and Gary Dicker’s team.
The game started at a cracking pace with the hosts taking an early advantage from the penalty spot.
Casper Nilsson was guilty of a late challenge on Tyler Roberts inside the box and Wolves skipper Oliver Tipton made no mistake from the resulting penalty, firing into the bottom right corner.
Wolves’ joy was short lived though as Zak Sturge’s excellent cross from the left found the head of Zak Emmerson, with the under-18s’ leading scorer nodding home at the far post.
Albion were punished again for a defensive mistake in the 24th minute when Leigh Kavanagh’s back pass to Tommy Reid lacked direction and Nathan Fraser pounced, pinching possession and smartly slotting past Tommy Reid from a tight angle.
Kavanagh came to his side’s rescue just before the break when he cleared off the line, and the half-time whistle came at a good time for Albion as Wolves looked to put the game beyond their reach.
Wolves maintained their momentum going into the second half and had their third goal in the 68th minute.
After seeing a couple of chances blocked inside the box, the ball fell for Harvey Griffiths to tuck home and the damage could have been worse two minutes later, only for an excellent save from Reid at full stretch to keep out Fraser’s curling effort.
Albion kept battling but the home side deserved to progress.
Albion: Reid, Nilsson, Kavanagh, McConville, Sturge, Jenks (Baker-Boaitey 74), Hinshelwood, Chouchane, Duffus (Ifill 46), Moran, Emmerson.
Unused subs: Cahill, Winstanley, Gee, Qureshi, Ryan.